


Promises

by FelicityGS



Category: Avengers: Infinity War - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, infinity war - Fandom
Genre: Brothers, Fix-It, Gen, Spoilers, brofeels, lots and lots of Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-04-29 09:17:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14469576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FelicityGS/pseuds/FelicityGS
Summary: The dead have rules.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> a fix it ficlet for Infinity War, because I like the dead and ghosts and surely with how many times Loki has died, he'd know a fair bit about it.

He knew dying would hurt; he knew that Thanos would kill him. He knew his play would be obvious.

He knew all of this, and did not regret the doing–only that it was before Thor.

(But would it not help Thor endure? Thor, who has endured every death and come out the other side  _stronger_? Thor, the universe’s hammer, forged by tragedy–

This is only temporary.

He knows what Thanos does not.

Loki has been dead before. 

***

The dead have rules; Loki knows some of them. There is a reason that he needed Thanos to kill him–it means he has pain to cling to (and hatred and fury and  _fear_ , rank terrible  _terror_ , but he shoves it down–he is dead; Thanos cannot hurt him.)

***

Watching someone else be tortured is… not  _refreshing;_ he is not sure what it is. He cannot feel very much, dead–it has already been so long, already he is beginning to forget the warmth of the living. It would be so easy to let go, to slip away ( _would he see Mother again?)_ –

_Thor’s face, tears in his eyes, mouth silenced but pain filling the air_ –

Loki twists the memory, hooks it deep within in himself. Thanos– _Loki_ –Thanos caused that, with Loki’s death. 

_We will walk beneath the same sun again, Brother_ –He promised. He cannot disappoint Thor, not again. 

What would Thor think of Nebula’s torture? 

That passes the time, a little, until he has a name– _Vormir_ –and the knowledge that soon Thanos will take his daughter and the ghost he does not know about to the soul stone. 

_I will be home soon, Brother;_ he hopes the intention reaches across the stars to where Thor is, brings him a comfort he does not understand. 

***

The dead have rules. Loki cannot stray far from the one who killed him, but he can go far enough–can slip his way up the path unseen by Thanos, by Gamora. He can go farther, if he is stronger (if he hurts more)–and is he not strong? Does he not have a wealth of pain? Has Thanos not caused so much suffering in his life? Ice cold fury surges through him, lets him claw away from his focus–

does he not hurt? has he not suffered enough? 

_Jotunheim, “I found a babe”, “we are not brothers”, the queen is dead; long live the queen, Father–”my sons–”, “I did not do it for him–”_

He would scream, if he had a mouth, if he had anything to express; the edges of the stone cliff begin to frost. He stares down at where no bodies have been thrown, can sense Thanos drawing closer again–there is not enough time, and he quivers with fury and pain and  _ache_ –

he would rend the universe apart, if he could–

_is that what you wish_?

the voice is hot,  _warm; it sounds like Mother_ , he thinks, dazed, and nearly loses his fury and form, nearly slips away for good but–

( _We will walk beneath the same sun again, Brother_ )

–does not. 

_No_ , he sends back; now that he knows what to look for, he can sense the Stone, hiding in the very fabric of Vormir, waiting for an appropriate sacrifice. 

The stone seems to lose interest, but Loki will not let it ignore him–will not allow Thanos to have this; he clings tight to the spite that has driven him so far, for so long.

_I wish more_ –

and his soul quivers under the weight of the stone. 

_Oh_? the stone hums; time slows.

***

The dead have rules. 

A soul for a soul–needless, nonsensical, a petty way to play with those who wish the soul stone’s alliance.

_Is this not more interesting?_ Loki asks, breath bated; Thanos and his daughter stand nearby, the soul stone’s guardian speaks, but it is so much white noise. He strains with all his being towards the stone.

There are greater things available than just the soul of a loved one–Loki knows this, learned it on his mother’s knee. 

(Remembers Foster, the Aether, the alliance that could have been–)

_We are agreed_  the stone hums.

There is no warning; only pain, blinding white–

_tinged blue, like Thor’s lightning; he shrieks joy and agony both_ –

***

Dying hurts. 

Being born hurts more. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh guess I'm adding a bit more? Dream team.
> 
> I've been noodling this around my brain so maybe I'll actually add more, but I'm hesitant to say so, so we'll leave this as complete for now.

The fall lasts too long and too short; she can see Thanos, growing distant. Hasn’t she read something, once, about how adrenaline makes the perception of time slow?

She thinks it should hurt more, dying; hitting the stone feels like falling into a pool--

_it is a pool_ , there is water in her mouth, her nose--her muscles contract, and she claws, and

sits up.

It is red, as far as she can see; her clothes are soaking quickly, and the water is chill where it touches her skin. 

There is a child  in front of her--a Jotun, and when did she last see one of them? They are small and their eyes are as red as the water. 

_Hello_ , the child says, their voice echoing and resounding in the space. “Hello,” again, and this is--it feels as if it were fine tuned to her. “I am still learning,” the child says, wry, and their smile is far, far older than the child’s body. 

“Is this--”

“You are not dead.” 

“Where am I?” Gamora remembers, still, Thanos’ hand around her wrist, the jerk as he threw her off the cliff. 

_Inside me_ , the child hums, a deep reverberation that causes the water to ripple, their eyes ancient; then they clear their throat, delicately. “Inside the stone. Safe, for now.”

“And Thanos--”

“Has what he would like, for now.”

_He thinks_ , and it is--both the child’s breathing and the water itself creating these forceful hisses, Gamora thinks. 

“Who...  _are_  you?” 

The child grins, baring teeth meant for rending through scale and flesh and bone. “I am Loki, brother of Thor.”

_devourer_ , the waves hiss as the child offers their hand to Gamora. Gamora does not let herself hesitate before she grasps it. 

Perhaps, she thinks, they will devour Thanos as well.

**Author's Note:**

> [x-posted to my tumblr](https://tmblr.co/ZsnQzv2Xikp7H)


End file.
